Friday, December 19, 2014

On Wednesday, December 17, the Tampa Historic Streetcar Board of
Directors received the final Tampa Historic Streetcar Extension Study,
undertaken by HART to explore the potential benefits of creating a modern
streetcar extension through the heart of downtown Tampa to the Marion Transit
Center. Those dynamic benefits would greatly complement the project proposed by
Tampa Bay Lightning owner Jeff Vinik, and Strategic Property Partners LLC.HART Board Chair, Councilman Mike Suarez, echoed the sentiment of Mr. Vinik,
who stated that his development company Strategic Property Partners LLC are
looking to take a leadership role in creating a more robust transportation
system in downtown, including an improved streetcar system and enhanced bus
service. "HART is excited to be an active partner in the revitalization in
the Channelside District," Suarez said, "and it gives me great pride
that the TECO Streetcar System is part of Mr. Vinik's vision plan for bringing
improved transportation services to the community along with improved access to
jobs and economic investment in this corridor."

HART
remains committed to innovation for the benefit of the communities it serves
including economic, social, and environmentally responsible technological
improvements. The Tampa Historic Streetcar Extension Study represents the
latest in a long history of leading initiatives HART has undertaken as a transit
leader in Tampa as well as the entire state of Florida and the nation as a
whole.

Click here to download a copy of the final study. As a note, the Streetcar Modernization and Expansion Study focused specifically on possible extension alignments directly/indirectly serving Marion Transit Center. This does not rule out future extensions serving other areas.

Monday, December 15, 2014

November continued the
agency's run of strong ridership growth. November marked another month of
more than 1 million in bus ridership. The most recent ridership report shows
total passenger trips in November reached 1,185,748. That's 6,981 more riders
choosing HART to get around Hillsborough County in November 2014 compared to
the same month last year.

November 5 saw
the greatest daily ridership throughout the month with 58,662 riders
picking HART!

On average each weekday HART is delivering more than 52,000 passenger trips
on its growing network of buses.

"As
ridership continues to grow, so does the need to expand service to keep pace
with the growing demands of the county," said HART Chief Executive
Officer Katharine Eagan. "We are pleased to see a steady increase in
ridership during the first quarter of FY2015."

Fast facts:

November
2014 ridership marked
6,981 more trips than the same month last year.

13
days
exceeded 50,000 riders.

MetroRapid
ridership was 42,609.

Year-to-date
(FY2014 vs. FY2015), bus ridership is up 3.4 percent; an increase of 86,164 trips
compared to the same period last year.

The top five average weekday ridership
routes in FY2015, showing that public transit use remains
strong in significant areas of Hillsborough County:

Tuesday, December 2, 2014

Transparency was the word of the day at the Hillsborough
Area Regional Transit Authority Board of Directors meeting on Monday, December
1.

The main focus of the session was a presentation by Jeff
Seward, Chief Financial Officer who provided an overview about this week's
launching of the agency's online accountability center. HART will post a wealth
of financial information on our website, including our budgets, individual financial
transaction records, contracts information and historical data. Also, Seward
asked the Board of Directors to approve the inclusion of the new HART
transparency initiative into the agency's finance policy.

HART is the lead on the regional fare collection project

During its regular monthly meeting, the HART Board approved
all action items, including authorization of a Memorandum of Understanding
(MOU) between the Hillsborough Transit Authority (HART) and the Tampa Bay Area
Regional Transportation Authority (TBARTA) for financial support for the regional
fare collection project.

In other matters, HART Board of Directors Chairman
Councilman Mike Suarez welcomed the newest HART Board of Directors members, Ms.
Kathleen Shanahan and Commissioner Stacy White. In addition, Councilman Suarez
recognized several re-appointed Board members and thanked them for their
valuable contributions and commitment during their tenure on the HART Board of
Directors.

Several employees were recognized for their outstanding
service and 30 plus years of commitment working at HART.

In addition, HART Board General Counsel David Smith asked
the HART Board of Directors for a motion to initiate the process of revising
the following HART Board Policies.

120:
General Organization of HART; Sub-section 120.02: Board of Directors

1000:
Environmental Policy; Sub-section 1000.02: Policy

The HART Board unanimously approved to move forward with the
process of revising the HART Board Policies.

The draft revisions to the HART Board Policies will be
presented to the Finance, Governance, and Administration Committee on December
15, 2014 for their review and advancement to the January 5, 2015 HART Board of
Directors meeting for the Board's consideration.

Next Regular Board of Directors Meetings

The HART Regular Board of Directors will take place Monday,
January 5, 2015 at 9:00 a.m. at the HART Ybor Office, 1201. E. 7th Ave., in
Tampa.

Closed captioning from the monthly HART Board of Directors
meetings will be posted within 5 - 8 business days on the Hillsborough
Television (HTV) website.